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Nor the Battle to the Strong (episode)
Jake faces war and death on a Federation colony that has been attacked by Klingons. Summary Teaser Doctor Bashir and Jake Sisko are on their way back to Deep Space 9, having attended a medical conference. Jake is planning to write a news article on Bashir, who is upset that his proposed theory (which consists of technobabble as far as Jake is concerned) was so controversial. As Bashir rants about the goings-on from the conference, Jake's mind begins to wander: :I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about. If I don't find a way to get out of doing this article, my first writing assignment is going to be my last. Maybe if I write to the journal and explain... "Dear editors, Thank you for the confidence you expressed in me by accepting my proposed profile of Doctor Bashir." Arriving at an important impasse in his explanation, which involves a protein anomaly, Bashir confirms that Jake is still following him. Bashir resumes explaining as Jake's voiceover continues: :''Who cares about anomalies? People want stories about things they can relate to. Life and death. Good and evil. An outbreak of Cartalian fever would be just the thing. The brave doctor battles the deadly virus... Listen to me, I'm actually rooting for a plague. A few seconds pass with Bashir talking and Jake continuing to daydream, but they are both brought back to reality when the runabout receives a distress call from a Federation colony on Ajilon Prime. Despite a recent ceasefire the Klingons have resumed their war with the Federation and attacked the colony. Though the colony has requested assistance, Bashir is reluctant to bring Jake along. Jake convinces the doctor to go anyway, and there is a hint that Bashir knows whatever they face on Ajilon will make a better story than his lecture. Jake thinks to himself: :"Surgery under fire"! Now we're talking. Act One As things are speeding up for Jake and Bashir, it is a slow day in Ops. Quark has just arrived with a beverage for Kira, and Dax, Odo, O'Brien and Worf are all there to see her reaction. The beverage is a decaffeinated raktajino (dubbed "Quarktajino"), which O'Brien asked him to prepare in the fear that Kira's caffeine consumption will cause his son to be born a caffeine addict. Unfortunately, the drink tastes horrible by both Kira and Miles' accounts. Sisko emerges from his office with the news about Jake and Bashir. Although reinforcements are on their way to Ajilon Prime and Dax tries to lighten the mood, Sisko is visibly worried about his son. Jake and Bashir arrive at Ajilon Prime, where Bashir has second thoughts about taking Jake into the heat of battle. However, Jake is sure he can handle the experience, so they land and head for the front lines. In the emergency room, Jake's enthusiasm about his story fades when he experiences the casualties of war first hand. He is shaken by the wounded people he sees, but particularly disturbing is a man Jake finds in a doorway, unconscious and bleeding, who turns out to be dead. Another man enters yelling for help, as he has apparently been shot in the foot by a Klingon disruptor. Despite the man's story, Bashir finds it is actually a phaser burn and leaves the man, disgusted. The young man, though he initially sticks to his story, breaks down as he tells of how his fellow officers ran and he was so scared of the Klingons that he actually shot himself, wishing he was dead. Jake sits in a corner to work on his story but finds it increasingly difficult to concentrate: :Triage... The sorting of the wounded forces decisions that... I've gotta get a grip. Focus. Decisions that test what it means to be a doctor... Act Two Act Three Act Four :I couldn't stand hearing him apologize to me like that. Not after what I'd done to him. Kirby enters, unaware of Bashir's guilt over bringing Jake or Jake's guilt over leaving Bashir, to examine Jake's wound. Later, Jake once again tries to resume his story but can't concentrate on it: :I keep turning it over in my head. The shell. Losing sight of Bashir. Running. And I keep trying to make sense of it all. To justify what I did. But when it comes down to it, there's only one explanation: I'm a coward. Part of me wishes Bashir had seen me run away and told everyone the truth. They deserve to know what I am. To know they can't count on me. That if the Klingons attack, I'll run and hide, just like I did before. Memorable Quotes "Sorry, kid. Life doesn't work that way..." : - Burke (to Jake) "The removal of caffeine from beverages has plagued restauranteurs for centuries! You can't expect me to cure it over night." "I'm not paying for that! I want to get her off caffeine, not poison her." "So much for ''Quarktajino." : - '''Quark', O'Brien, and Odo "It's not up to you to tell Kira what to do." "She is carrying his child. He should have some say." "As the leasee he does have certain rights. ''(explaining) Back home, pregnancy is considered a rental." "''Rental?" : - Dax, Worf, Quark, and both Kira and Dax together Background Information *The working title of this episode was Portrait of a Life *The eventual title for this episode comes from the Bible and appears in the book of Ecclesiastes: "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to the intelligent, nor yet favor to men of knowledge; but time and chance happeneth to them all." *The idea of this episode was that Jake, who has been established as an aspiring writer, would have experiences similar to those of Ernest Hemingway during World War I. There were also some homages to other outside influences that were slipped in; for example, the scene with Jake and Burke in the trench bears a striking resemblance to a scene in All Quiet on the Western Front *In the original draft, the story was set in a Cardassian hospital on a planet under siege by the Klingons. Both Jake and Bashir would have come into conflict with the Cardassian women running the hospital due to their belief that males are relatively inferior in the science and medical domains, as had been previously established in the episode "Destiny". Links and References Guest Stars * Andrew Kavovit as Kirby * Karen Austin as Kalandra * Mark Holton as Bolian orderly * Lisa Lord as a nurse * Jeb Brown as an ensign ;And: * Danny Goldring as Chief Burke Co-Starring * Elle Alexander as the female guard * Greg "Christopher" Smith as the male guard References Ajilon Prime; Ajilon Prime, Battle of; Ajilon system; Archanis; Archanis sector; bat'leth; Brice; caffeine; Cartalian fever; Caster; CO; cutter; Audrid Dax; Tobin Dax; ''Defiant'', USS; Down the River Light; ''Farragut'', USS; Ferengi; Ganalda IV; gravimetric scanner; hopper; Kalandra (science officer); Klingons; Klingon Empire; Lembatta Cluster; magnesite; Neema; phase compression rifle; phaser rifle; prion; "Quarktajino"; Raifi; Raymond; Rugalan fever; [[USS Rutledge|USS Rutledge]]; Second Federation-Klingon War; Jake Sisko; Tananda Bay; Tarkalean condor; ''Tecumseh'', USS; transport scrambler. *47 references |next= }} Nor the Battle to the Strong de:Die Schlacht um Ajilon Prime es:...Nor the Battle to the Strong nl:...Nor the Battle to the Strong